The unexplained leads to opportunity
by RepliCartertje
Summary: Jack’s unexplained illness leads to some opportunities. Neither Sam nor Jack could have ever dreamed about that… Sam and Jack!


Title: The unexplained leads to opportunity

Author: RepliCartertje

Spoilers: It is all said in season 7 after Death Knell, but one where Pete never existed…

Summary: Jack's unexplained illness leads to some opportunities. Neither Sam nor Jack could have ever dreamed about that…

A/N: This fic was made for the Sam/Jack ficathon... It is my first ficathon I participated, so it was all new for me… I will post my assignment later when it is allowed…  
I also want to thank Jan, Mandy and Annette for beta-ing my story. I know you need a lot of patient with me… So thanks gals!!!!

The unexplained leads to opportunity

With her bright blue eyes she looked at him lying there on the floor. He had just collapsed without any indication that he was feeling sick. They were on their way to the briefing room to debrief their last mission to Aligra. Aligra is what the inhabitants called it but for her it would always be just P6X-221. That is how she remembered all the planets they visited, it's a binary code the computer uses for extrapolation. To her it really made sense; but no matter how much O'Neill tried, he would never remember planets by the computer-generated codes.

"Colonel!" Sam yelled, surprised as he fell.

He just laid there and didn't move at all. He looked like he just dropped dead on the floor.

"Colonel!" She yelled, her concern evident in her voice, as she watched him, her blue eyes wide from shock. To her he was not only her CO, but also a good friend and colleague. Someone she had been through a lot with over the years.

She was scared seeing him lying on the floor like that, she couldn't even tell from a distance if he was breathing.

"Colonel!" she yelled again. "Wake up!" Sam stayed calm and in control even though on the inside she was scared. While keeping an eye on him, she ran to the phone that was further down the hallway. As she called Janet for medical assistance, she saw him take a breath, and a sigh of relief passed through her whole body. She kept an eye on him hoping he was ok, while explaining everything that had happened to Janet.

After she hung up the phone, she walked back to O'Neill to stay with him until Janet arrived. She checked his heartbeat and looked to see if his breathing was steady. A few minutes later Janet arrived, but to Sam it felt like an eternity. Janet gently pushed Sam aside and immediately started to check O'Neill's vitals. After Janet was sure about transporting him, the medics transported him to the infirmary.

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In the infirmary Janet ran some more tests on him. After a barrage of tests, Janet was dismayed she still hadn't found anything physically wrong with Colonel O'Neill. Sam waited quietly outside the infirmary with Teal'c, Daniel and General Hammond all waiting for word on O'Neill.

"General." Janet said coming out of the infirmary and looking at Hammond.

"How is he? What is wrong with him?" Sam asked quickly.

Janet turned her head to her best friend. "Honestly I don't know what is wrong with him, Sam." She replied. "I can't find anything physically wrong to explain this."

"What do you mean you can't find anything physically wrong with him, Janet?" Sam asked concerned.

"Sam, I ran all the test I can possibly do and there is nothing wrong with him. I can not find any explanation for why he fainted. Everything seems to be normal."

"So what are you saying doctor? That he is physically fine?" Hammond asked.

"Yes Sir, that is what it seems like, General"

"But he is unconscious?"

"I know, General, but there is nothing physically wrong with him. I think it is something psychological or something that happened on Aligra." Janet replied.

"Can I see him, Janet?" Sam asked.

"Yes you can, Sam. But only one visitor at a time " Janet replied seeing how much Sam was worrying about her CO.

"But be in the briefing room in 15 minutes, Major. We still need to debrief." General Hammond ordered.

General Hammond, Daniel and Teal'c walked slowly to the briefing room, while Sam went inside the infirmary. She saw Jack lying there as if he was fast asleep. And it would have been a beautiful sight, if it wasn't for the fact that he was unconscious and in the infirmary. She smiled as she walked slowly towards him. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to his bed. She looked at him; he was lying there and looked very fragile. She'd never seen him like this before; she just sat there and watched him for the next ten minutes.

"Sir, I don't know if you can hear me…but…I just wanted to let you know that…that…" Sam stumbled, "Sir, if you can hear me please wake up."

"Sam?" Janet said softly. Sam turned to face Janet, surprised that she hadn't heard her coming.

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't you be on your way to the briefing room?" Janet asked

Sam looked at her watch and realized that twenty minutes had already passed and she was late for the briefing. She got up, said goodbye to Janet and looked at Jack for the last time as she ran out of the infirmary.

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A few moments later Sam arrived in the briefing room where everyone was waiting for her. She excused herself for being late and she took her seat.

"Major, since you are the senior officer at the moment. Can you start the debriefing?" Hammond asked.

Sam started to talk about their mission. At first everything seemed to be normal. They went through the gate, met the local villagers, talked to them, and explored the village and surrounding area, nothing out of the ordinary.

"So it was a standard mission?" Hammond asked.

"It was Sir, until…" Sam stated, "Until we ran into a few Jaffa. We had no idea they were there. The villagers didn't speak about worshipping a God, so we assumed there wasn't a Goa'uld on the planet."

"There were also no writings of any kind that indicated that." Daniel interrupted.

"But not everything was what it seemed, Sir." Sam continued. "These Jaffa didn't follow any Goa'uld. It looked like they were free Jaffa as Teal'c is"

"Indeed" Teal'c replied.

"They explained how they stole a cargo ship belonging to Apedemak, a minor Goa'uld in service of Anubis, and flew to the nearest planet with no Goa'uld domination. That was P6X-221. They said they hid the cargo ship in the woods and that they stayed in one of the caves for a few days. But then they needed food and water, so they came out of the caves and that is when we stumbled upon them." Sam continued. "After a while they told us that Apedemak was planning to again use the virus Ba'al had used to disable all the stargates."

"But it was a lie" Daniel interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Hammond asked.

"They weren't free Jaffa." Teal'c responded

"They were still in the service of Apedemak, and also the inhabitants worshipped her. She had ordered them to deceive us, so we wouldn't be suspicious about those Jaffa wandering around. After they told us what Apedemak was planning, we came up with a plan to stop her. Of course at that time, we didn't know that those Jaffa were working for her. So after I found a solution to stop Apedemak's plan, we were surrounded by the Jaffa and some of the villagers." Sam continued. "Luckily some of the villagers didn't believe that Apedemak was a God. So when they saw what happened to us, they fought on our side. We fought our way back to the gate, dialled in and escaped in time."

"What about the villagers who helped you?" Hammond asked with a concerned voice.

"They didn't make it, Sir. They were killed by the other villagers before they could go through the gate with us," Sam said sadly.

"So nothing happened that can explain the Colonels condition?"

"No, Sir." Sam replied. "When we got back he went to take a shower, and I went to Dr. Frasier for my check up."

"I also went for a shower." Daniel said.

"When it was almost time for the debriefing, we bumped into each other in the hallway. As we made our way to the briefing room together he suddenly collapsed, but I didn't see any indication of him feeling sick."

"Ok, thank you, Major. Make your report and have it on my desk as soon as possible." Hammond said. "Dismissed. But I want you all to go and see Dr. Frasier, you too Major."

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While Sam went to her lab to start on her report, Daniel and Teal'c walked to the infirmary to undergo some tests to see if they could leave the base. After thirty minutes both men got cleared out and left the infirmary. Teal'c went to his quarters to Kelnorim and Daniel went home to get some well deserved rest after a busy week.

A while later Sam arrived at the infirmary, after a quick stop at Hammond's office to drop off her report. Janet immediately started with her tests. Sam was nervous, not because of the tests, but because of what was going on with O'Neill. She couldn't explain it, but…she felt responsible for what has happened. Deep down inside she knew it wasn't her fault that he passed out. But what if there was something she could have done. What if there was some kind of sign, and she'd missed it.

"Ok this is the last test, Sam," Janet said with a smile, seeing the worry in Sam's eyes. She knew Sam was thinking about O'Neill. She knew her best friend enough to know that she probably was blaming herself for what had happened. "Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I am feeling good." Sam lied very badly. She didn't like it that she lied, but she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to finish these stupid tests. She knew Janet wouldn't find a thing. Because Janet already checked her out earlier and she was given a clean bill of health. Why would it be different now?

"Sam…"

"Janet really I am fine. You don't have to worry. I am feeling ok." Sam lied again. She wasn't fine. She worried about the Colonel.

"I am going to take a look at the results of the test. This will only take a few minutes, and then we shall see if you can leave the base" Janet said while going to her office.

Sam didn't intend to leave the base; she couldn't just leave with him laying there. She wanted to stay on base, to be there for him, to take care of him, the way he had done for her.

She slowly walked over to him. She sat again on that chair next to his bed…and just looked at him nothing more. She looked at the handsome man he is; the grey hair, the deep brown eyes, the wrinkles that only makes him more attractive and the scar on his eyebrow. He was everything she liked in a man. And he was not only handsome but he was kind and sweet and was always there for his friends. He would never leave anyone behind.

All of a sudden O'Neill opened his eyes. He blinked again and again. When Sam saw him blinking she called out for Janet.

"Sir, are you all right?" You could hear the concern in her voice. She knew he would never be able to answer her. But she hoped to see something in his eyes that could make her feel at ease.

"…O…K…" just those two letters came out of his mouth but for Sam it was like all the rain clouds disappeared and that the sun came out. It meant so much for her to hear his voice again.

Janet started to examine the Colonel again. Still she couldn't see what was wrong with him, but she saw that the colonel had regained his strength.

"I am hungry" that was one of the first things he said. Both Janet and Sam had laughed at the remark. They both loved it that the old Colonel was back. 

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After 2 weeks in the infirmary and after a lot of test, Janet didn't see any reason to still keep him there. After the incident the other day where Jack started shouting and yelling and throwing things in the infirmary, Janet knew it was time he left. Sam offered to stay with him until he had all his strength back. O'Neill at first was against it, but he knew it was the best thing to do.

After a long drive, they finally arrived at Jack's house. For the first time they looked at each other. During the whole trip, they didn't say a word. They were both very uncomfortable with each other. Sam was a little worried if it really was the best solution to take care of him. She was going to stay with him, in his house. And she didn't really know how she felt about it…about staying with him…about staying with the man she loved.

Finally she admitted it, she loved him. He was more then her CO, more then a colleague, more then a friend. He was the man she loved. 

Jack stepped out of the car, walking past the pile of newspapers he had been meaning to cancel, and walked into his house. Thankfully, he had decided to clean house before going on his last mission. Sam followed him in. They both noticed the distinct chill from the heat being off for a couple of weeks.

"I'll turn on the heat" She said to him with a smile

"Yeah that sounds like a good plan, because it is freezing in here"

Sam smiled at him. She turned on the heat and after 15 minutes it was warm inside. Jack showed her the house. He didn't seem to sick, but she knew someone needed to be with him to be sure about that. Even though Janet said he would be ok. She wanted to stay with him for a couple of days to be one hundred percent sure.

Sam ordered dinner and after 20 minutes their pizza arrived, they ate it before watching television. Jack wanted to watch The Simpsons so that is what they did. And while Sam actually doesn't like it, this time she loved it, because she was sitting next to him, in his house and she felt comfortable.

After dinner The Simpsons marathon continued until Jack couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. The weeks lying in the infirmary had taken its toll. Sam suggested they call it a night and Jack reluctantly agreed. Sam went to the guestroom and tried to sleep but she couldn't. Her mind kept thinking about what had happened over the last month. And about how scared she was for him. And how happy she was that he was ok and that she was with him. 

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'Knock knock' there was someone knocking on the door of the guestroom.

"Who is there?" Sam asked, although she knew the only one who could be knocking on her door was Jack.

"Who do you think it is?" he answered very sarcastically.

"Come in" and he came in. She was a little embarrassed because she was wearing only a nightgown. He gently stepped towards her and sat on the side of the bed. She sat up. They just looked at each other for about 30 seconds without saying a word

"I am glad you are here Sam." he said. She was surprised; surprised that he just had called her Sam. She could not remember if he had ever done that. And she was happy, she started to smile.

"I am glad to be here, Jack" And for the first time, she was comfortable in calling him Jack. It felt right.

"So are we going to have breakfast?" surprised by his question she looked at her watch and saw that it already was 8.30. She had no idea that she had been up all night. It didn't look that long for her.

"Of course, but first I am going to take a quick shower and I'll make us some breakfast." She said as she jumped out of the bed and went to the bathroom. In the meantime Jack went downstairs to start putting plates on the table. After looking to see what he had in the fridge he knew someone had to go out to get something to eat for breakfast. When Sam finished showering she took the car and went for croissants.

They ate their breakfast very quietly. After eating Sam and Jack did the dishes together.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Sam asked Jack.

"I just want to stay at home actually, just to rest a bit." He replied.

They talked and rested all morning.

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"So you want to go out for lunch?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Do you want to go out? If not I can make some sandwiches."

"Sandwiches…that sounds like a good idea if it isn't too much work for you"

"I can manage that Sir." she replied confident.

"Oh, I know you can. It is just that I don't want you to feel you have too"

"That is thoughtful of you, Jack. But it is ok." She says while standing there to go to the kitchen.

Jack stood up to help Sam, but while doing that, he bumped into Sam and stood really close to her. They looked at each other in the eyes. For 10 seconds they both froze. Then Sam lent forward. And their lips touched very gently, waiting on the other's initiative. Then their tongues touched. The kiss became passionate and intense.

After a while they broke of their kiss, and just looked at each other without saying a word. They eyes met and they both saw the other enjoyed it. So Jack lent again forward and starting to kiss her again. His arms around her, holding her very gently but tight enough that she couldn't slip out of his grip.

"I should make lunch" Sam said after the intense and best kiss ever.

"Oh…yeah…lunch."

Sam went further on her way to make the sandwiches. But after 10 minutes she still was looking and them in front of her…Nothing on them yet. Jack walked in and touched her shoulder. She turned around towards him and he looked at her with his eyes.

"You ok?" he asked in the most gentle and friendliest way she has ever heard him talk.

"I am fine, Jack. It is just…" she couldn't finish her sentence because Jack interrupted her.

"You don't know what to think about what happened. Well Sam that is how I feel about you."

Surprised she looked at him. That was certainly not what she expected from taking care of him. But she liked it how it turned out because that was what her heart had wanted after her experience on the Prometheus. She had given up the hope to ever kiss him. To ever be together with him. But now she had hope, hope that the man of her dreams loved her.

"So what do we do now?" she asked not knowing the answer herself.

"Nothing" Jack replied

"What do you mean nothing, what about the regulations and everything?" not really knowing if she wanted to know the answer to that.

"We don't do anything…If they don't know it…"

"Jack, you can't be serious about that. If they ever find out about it…"

"Well we better tell them now and hope they can figure something out for us. Because there is no way I will spend the rest of my life without you."

"Oh Jack…that would be amazing but I don't know about that. I mean I am afraid one of us will have to change teams. And that will probably be me. And I am not ready for that. I am not ready to leave SG-1."

"Sam, don't be afraid you are essential to the team. We cannot do it without you. I think there might be a solution for our problem. Well I don't actually call it a problem though"

"Solution?" Sam asked surprised…

"If I resign…then we wouldn't have that issue."

"No Jack you can't resign. I won't allow that. There must be another way to solve this. There must be a way where we can be together, and we still can work together." Sam said very decisively. "We just have to talk to Hammond about it. But for now let's just enjoy each other's company for a few days" with those words Sam hugged Jack.

The next few days Jack and Sam spent time talking, laughing and just getting to know one another without the restraints of military protocol.

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When their leave was up, Jack had to report to Dr. Frasier for a follow-up exam, and they were both schedule for a meeting with General Hammond. An appointment Sam still didn't feel comfortable about.

"You seem ok, although I still don't have any idea what caused you to faint. You are completely healthy. I will keep looking for the cause of it, but the chance of me actually finding it will be small." Janet said to Jack. He left the infirmary and walked to Sam's lab.

"Are you ready for this?" Jack asked, seeing the insecurity in Sam's eyes. He knew she wasn't, but she wanted to play it by the rules so they needed to tell him.

"No I am not. But we have to tell him and hope he will find a solution for us." Sam tried to smile at him and be positive but it was hard for her.

All the way to Hammond's office they didn't say a word to each other. They both were nervous and scared. Although Jack was confident in it, Sam wasn't.

"Come in." Hammond said with a low voice. Sam her heart bounced in her throat. She knew now was the moment. "So you both wanted to discuss something with me?"

"Yes, Sir" Sam said trying to sound confident.

"We wondered if you could help us with a little problem we have, Sir." Jack continued "We were hoping you could help us to look for a solution for us wanting to pursue a personal relationship."

"Excuse me? You want to pursue a relationship together?" Hammond asked. He was not really surprised since he saw it coming for a long time.

"Yes Sir, we really are thinking about it." Sam said. "And we were hoping that there was a chance that we could still work together, and be on the same team while having a relationship?"

"Honestly, I don't know if that is possible but I will try to find a solution so this is possible because I don't want either of you off of SG-1 and I also don't want to tell you what you can and cannot do in your personal life." Hammond said while smiling to Sam.

"Thank you sir" they both said at the same time as they left Hammond's office.

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A few days passed and still not a word from Hammond so they both got a bit worried that they wouldn't be able to both stay on SG-1. All of the SGC got a memo about the President coming to the SGC in 3 days. Sam and Jack didn't have time to think about their personal life. They needed to make sure everything was ready for the President's visit. They were so focused on that they forgot their sorrows they had for them not being on SG-1 anymore.

The day of the President's visit; Sam was nervous because she would have to show the President what she was working on to defeat the Kull Warriors. After what happened on the planet she didn't know what to do. All those memories were running through her head, what happened to all her friends and co-workers, to herself, and the loss of her dad, even if she didn't really lose him, that is what it felt like for her. It was comforting to know that they had the whole ceremony to look forward to before the President would actually visit the SGC. Jack really wasn't looking forward to that. He never liked them, and he had said it to her on many occasions.

They all stood in line in their Dress Uniforms when the President entered the gate room. Hammond introduced him. And the President started his speech. Sam could see that Jack was bored with it but it was something they just had to go through. Sam actually found it interesting what the President had to say.

"…and at last it is with great pride that I can announce the promotion of Major Samantha Carter to Lieutenant Colonel. Please do step forward." The President said.

Sam was completely caught off guard and without thinking she was walking towards the President. After the ceremony, Sam gave the President a tour around the SGC. And when he left Hammond came by to tell Sam and Jack that the President agreed that for all their work they did for the planet, they could stay on the same team as long as it didn't interfere with their work. But the President did suggest being careful in public.

Sam and Jack looked at each other and smiled.

"So wanna go fishing?" Jack asked

"Of course I want to go fishing." And for once Sam didn't have any doubts about it. As long as she could spend it with Jack it was ok to her.

The end…


End file.
